Luftwaffe Aircraft Weapons

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Bordkanone 3,7

The Bordkanone 3,7 (BK 3,7) (on-board cannon 3.7) was a 3.7 cm (1.46 in) anti-tank/bomber autocannon based on the earlier 3.7 cm (1.46 in) Flak 18 made by Rheinmetall. It was mounted on World War II Luftwaffe aircraft such as the Junkers Ju 87 G-1 and G-2; Henschel Hs 129B-2/R3; Messerschmitt Bf 110G-2/R1-3; Junkers Ju 88P-2 or P-3 and others. The cannon could be attached under the wings or fuselage of the aircraft as self-contained gun pods with 12-round magazines. It fired Armour Piercing Composite Rigid (APCR, Tungsten hard-core) ammunition or high-explosive shells in 37 × 263B mm caliber at 160 rounds per minute.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel’s Junkers Ju 87G, with twin BK 3,7 gun pods attached to the underside of the wings, in Russia, being inertia-started using the hand-cranked flywheel.

MG 17 Machine Gun

The MG 17 was a 7.92 mm machine gun produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use at fixed mountings in many World War II Luftwaffe aircraft, typically as forward-firing offensive armament, but also used as fixed, remotely-fired tail guns in certain aircraft variants, such as the Do 217. The MG 17 was based on the older MG 30 light machine gun, as was its defensive flexible-mount counterpart, the MG 15 machine gun, which was of the same caliber and general size. Modifications to the design included removal of the buttstock, switching from magazine to belt-fed ammunition, and from open-bolt operation to closed bolt operation, to allow it to be installed in synchronized applications, firing through the propeller arc. The MG 15 retained open bolt operation, but used 75 round saddle-type drum magazines, and likewise lost its buttstock, to fit better in the tight confines of an aircraft. The MG 30 was also the basis for the famed MG 34 and MG 42 designs; variants of the latter are still in service in certain areas.

MG 17 machine gun.

MG 151 Cannon

The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a 15 mm aircraft-mounted autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. Its 20mm variant, the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, was widely used on German Luftwaffe fighters, night fighters, fighter-bombers, bombers and ground-attack aircraft. Salvaged guns saw post-war use by other nations.

Volkssturm men in Königsberg (East Prussia) with Panzerfaust and a MG 151/20 gun (Aircraft MG modified for ground use), winter of 1945. The Volkssturm used anything they could beg or borrow. Their supply situation was hopeless.

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